An interesting Kickstarter project aims to jump-start sales of a drone version of a fully-functional hover bike. The quadcopter drone acts as a proof of concept for the full-sized manned vehicle, with proceeds from the crowdfunding effort intended to fuel the continued development of the final vehicle. With more than a week remaining before the Kickstarter campaign concludes, its funding goal has been exceeded and development is moving forward at pace. Though the manned Hoverbike is what tends to garner the most attention, the one third scale drones are actually the focus of the Kickstarter effort.
Indian UAS for Border Patrol
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur have developed India’s first low-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that could be used for anything from patrolling the border to traffic and crowd monitoring. The aircraft, called P1, is commanded by a computer pilot on the ground. It can fly for more than 10 hours continuously at an altitude of up to 5,000ft and has a wide operating radius of 150km. Continue reading
Ukraine Deploys Domestic UAS to Donetsk and Luhansk
The Ukrainian defence industry has developed a UAS codenamed Dnieper 1, Ukrainian media said on Wednesday. Research and development was funded by businessmen who donated their money to the Homeland Defence Fund reporting to the administration of the Dnipropetrovsk region, run by oligarch Ihor Kolomoyskyi. Continue reading
Russian Troops Train on UAS in Armenia
Over 100 Russian military personnel based in Armenia will receive unmanned aircraft control skills during a three-day field training exercise, Russia’s Southern Military District said in a press release.The exercises have started at Kamhud and Alagyaz alpine training centres in Armenia. Continue reading
New “Dual Carbon” Battery Charges 20 Times Faster than Li-ion
Japanese company Power Japan Plus has announced the development and planned mass-production of “Ryden,” a disruptive carbon battery that can be charged 20 times faster than an ordinary lithium-ion cell. The battery, which is cheap to manufacture, safe, and environmentally friendly, could be ideal to improve the range and charging times of electric cars. Continue reading
Space Industry Looks at DoD’s UAV Broadband Requirements
The space industry is working with the US Department of Defense to help better shape the broadband requirements of unmanned air vehicles in years to come, an industry executive has revealed. UAVs are commonplace in many US military operations, but the full motion and high definition video capability that is continually required to be streamed from them means it continues to rely on commercial capabilities for satellite communications (SATCOM), Skot Butler, vice-president of satellite networks and space services at Intelsat, says. Continue reading
Lockheed Martin Conducts First Fully Autonomous Mission
Lockheed Martin, in collaboration with the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC), successfully conducted a fully autonomous resupply, reconnaissance, surveillance and target-acquisition demonstration using its Squad Mission Support System (SMSS) unmanned ground vehicle, K-MAX unmanned helicopter and Gyrocam optical sensor. Continue reading
USS Theodore Roosevelt Conducts Combined Manned, Unmanned Operations
The US Navy’s unmanned X-47B returned to carrier operations aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) Aug. 17 and completed a series of tests, operating safely and seamlessly with manned aircraft. Building on lessons learned from its first test period aboard TR in November 2013, the X-47B team is now focused on perfecting deck operations and performing maneuvers with manned aircraft in the flight pattern.